Sheriff David Mahoney said the child was in the van early Wednesday morning when the grandmother dropped other children off at school. Mahoney says family members discovered the child in the afternoon and called authorities to the home in Brevard.

He says it's not clear why the grandmother did not realize the child was still in the van.

A meteorologist at the National Weather Service says it was 79 degrees at noon at Asheville Regional Airport and 81 degrees at 3 p.m.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the temperature inside a car can rise almost 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes.